Switch - Grant McKenzie

Caught up with all the Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay thrillers? Here's one you'll want to get your hands on - Switch by Grant McKenzie.

Sam White has resigned himself to the fact that's he's not going to make it as an actor. But he's doing okay - he's got a house, a loving wife and beautiful daughter. The job - well he's working nights as a security guard at a mall. But hey - it pays the bills. Life is good.... until the morning he comes home to find his house bombed out and two body bags.......Reeling from the horror in front of him, he is thrown deeper into a nightmare by a phone call. The caller tells him that the bodies aren't those of his wife and daughter. If Sam does what the caller says, they'll be returned unharmed. But what the watcher wants is for Sam to jump through hoops - the tasks he sets out for him are violent. On one of the tasks he connects with Zack. He says his family has been kidnapped as well. Can Sam trust him enough to work together? Does Zack have his own agenda? What is the connection?

I liked the character of Sam as an everyday guy trying to protect his family. How far would you go to protect your family? Zack made me suspicious and many times I wanted to yell at Sam - 'Don't trust him!'. But McKenzie has thrown in enough plot twists and turns that my suspicions and point of view changed with every chapter.  I questioned a few too convenient occurances, but overall they did not detract from the story.

Tight, fast paced prose, non stop action and a diabolical plot made Switch a one day read for me! I adore suspense thrillers and McKenzie has done a bang up job with his debut novel.